diff --git a/src/cdk/testing/dispatch-events.ts b/src/cdk/testing/dispatch-events.ts
index 6e7739c22454..f815fce1a4b9 100644
--- a/src/cdk/testing/dispatch-events.ts
+++ b/src/cdk/testing/dispatch-events.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ export function dispatchKeyboardEvent(node: Node, type: string, keyCode: number)
 }
 
 /** Shorthand to dispatch a mouse event on the specified coordinates. */
-export function dispatchMouseEvent(node: Node, type: string, x = 0, y = 0): MouseEvent {
-  return dispatchEvent(node, createMouseEvent(type, x, y)) as MouseEvent;
+export function dispatchMouseEvent(node: Node, type: string, x = 0, y = 0,
+  event = createMouseEvent(type, x, y)): MouseEvent {
+  return dispatchEvent(node, event) as MouseEvent;
 }
diff --git a/src/cdk/testing/event-objects.ts b/src/cdk/testing/event-objects.ts
index 1d88d7996df2..856aad2f09f4 100644
--- a/src/cdk/testing/event-objects.ts
+++ b/src/cdk/testing/event-objects.ts
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ export function createKeyboardEvent(type: string, keyCode: number, target?: Elem
 
 /** Creates a fake event object with any desired event type. */
 export function createFakeEvent(type: string) {
-  let event = document.createEvent('Event');
+  const event = document.createEvent('Event');
   event.initEvent(type, true, true);
   return event;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/menu/menu-trigger.ts b/src/lib/menu/menu-trigger.ts
index 045b872296e6..9bceb8282e80 100644
--- a/src/lib/menu/menu-trigger.ts
+++ b/src/lib/menu/menu-trigger.ts
@@ -413,6 +413,13 @@ export class MdMenuTrigger implements AfterViewInit, OnDestroy {
   _handleMousedown(event: MouseEvent): void {
     if (!isFakeMousedownFromScreenReader(event)) {
       this._openedByMouse = true;
+
+      // Since clicking on the trigger won't close the menu if it opens a sub-menu,
+      // we should prevent focus from moving onto it via click to avoid the
+      // highlight from lingering on the menu item.
+      if (this.triggersSubmenu) {
+        event.preventDefault();
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/menu/menu.spec.ts b/src/lib/menu/menu.spec.ts
index 6006dcab4f6b..a9e8086aaa5f 100644
--- a/src/lib/menu/menu.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/menu/menu.spec.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import {
   dispatchMouseEvent,
   dispatchEvent,
   createKeyboardEvent,
+  createMouseEvent,
 } from '@angular/cdk/testing';
 
 
@@ -1014,6 +1015,20 @@ describe('MdMenu', () => {
       expect(overlay.querySelectorAll('.mat-menu-panel').length).toBe(2, 'Expected two open menus');
     }));
 
+    it('should prevent the default mousedown action if the menu item opens a sub-menu', () => {
+      compileTestComponent();
+      instance.rootTrigger.openMenu();
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+
+      const event = createMouseEvent('mousedown');
+
+      Object.defineProperty(event, 'buttons', {get: () => 1});
+      event.preventDefault = jasmine.createSpy('preventDefault spy');
+
+      dispatchMouseEvent(overlay.querySelector('[md-menu-item]')!, 'mousedown', 0, 0, event);
+      expect(event.preventDefault).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
   });
 
 });